The American Workplace Has Changed Its Structure And Culture Essay

Work-life balance has been a popular topic for employees across all age and occupations for years, representing a rising concern of contemporary human resource management and labor policies. This topic has attracted the attention from the millennium generation, who is stepping into the market and beginning to grow a career. Therefore considering the increasing demand, well-designed workforce planning with diverse scheduling options offered to employees appears to be extra credits for most companies. This research paper aims to communicate the positive effects of four-day workweek, and providing support for why employers should adopt this schedule for employees and themselves through 1) introducing background and history of four-day workweek as a work schedule option and 2) demonstrating benefits of four-day workweek from both employer and employees’ perspectives.

The theme of overemployment is a current problem in the United States. Americans are overworked. Workload has increased and society has experienced a loss of leisure. Overemployment and overworked can be defined as negative effects that occur when individuals are required to work more hours than they want to work. “Personal perceptions of workload are critical, as individuals have diverse reactions to the number of hours worked depending on their needs, lifestyle, expectations, and experiences. Individuals have different tolerances for demands and stress. While many, including professionals

Ms. Isabel Rimanoczy made great points in this article. Though some may view her as a work body, she and I share a mutual understanding when it comes to work-life balance. Ms. Rimanoczy is not buying the idea that there is some sort of balance between the two aspects of our lives. “Work-life balance is dead” and it may be a good thing” (Rimanoczy, 2015). I agree with her statement because if anyone takes the time to think about it, they will soon come to terms with the idea that it really becomes impossible to separate work and personal life. Some of us grow up with moral values, standards, and family traditions carried on through religious beliefs. When we go to work we will bring along our character because our personal life defines us as

In Pedigree, Lauren A. Rivera outlines the manner by which the elite are able to reproduce their resources and monopolize access to the most prestigious and highest paying jobs in the United States. Rivera’s main argument is that methods by which employers of elite firms characterize credentials and evaluate qualification for top jobs provides more opportunities for candidates who come from socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds, while at the same time limiting opportunities for less privileged applicants. She goes on to highlight how every stage of the evaluative process, from initial submission of résumés for evaluation to final selections made by committees, is systematically correlated with parental income and education. This exclusion of talented, qualified applicants from less-advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds creates a cap for students in terms of the prestige of jobs and income levels that they can attain. In the chapter summaries below, I will outline Rivera’s arguments regarding elite reproduction—and the methodology by which this process occurs at each phase of the hiring process.

In the textbook, Family Life Now, the author, Kelly J. Welch, discusses the ten strategies for family and work balance. Obviously, sometimes the stressors in life and the struggles that work brings can definitely effect people and inhibit a relationship from being successful. According to a 2001 study examining “47 married couples who appear to successfully manage both spheres” (Welch, 409), the 10 major strategies to balance family and work are as follows: “Value Family, Strive for Partnership, Derive Meaning from Work, Maintain Work Boundaries, Be Focused and Productive at Work, Prioritize Family Fun, Take Pride in Dual Earning, Live Simply, Learn to Say “No”, and Value Time” (Welch, 410). Out of these ten strategies, I would like to focus on the seven that I think are the most beneficial and necessary to have in a balanced relationship.

The United States workforce is viewed by many as a beautiful system. Foreigners see happy workers eagerly performing their duties, waiting for a generous paycheck to bring back to their middle-class family. In reality, this perfect picture is rarely demonstrated with employees in America. Professionals and managers may have a luxurious work experience, but most white- and blue-collar workers deal with many issues from their employers. These issues create problems that affect the individual workers.

When it comes to family, it’s not as easy to make sacrifices. This is not to imply that women can’t have careers and families and be effective, it’s simply making note of the challenges faced when choosing this path. “Yet every study so far has shown us to be less effective when attempting to multitask. Even when our subjective impression is of having accomplished more in less time, in reality we get less done, we do it with less accuracy and depth, and we remember less about it later. Doing more at once robs all our activities of the attention they deserve -- and the experience we deserve” (Rushkoff). Finding balance is the only answer if women are to continue being a part of the workforce. No one can have it all without there being obstacles along the way. While maintaining family, careers, and home where does self-priority fit? We’ve read the countless arguments in support and opposition of women having it all, and surely the debate will continue. At what expense if any does it cost to have it all? Maintaining careers, family, homes, and self-care calls for more than one working and pitching in on the day to day operations. Come up with a plan that works and execute it to accomplish all that you desire. Everyone’s definition of “All” will very well be different, define your “All” and strive to have

Work is a part of humanity. It helps fulfill our needs such as food, housing, and health. Work has been changed throw history. Humans work in different disciplines such as agriculture, medical and engineering, to provide a specialized service to their community. In the past, people were specialized in one . The people in this community need to go to a specialized person. For instance, the alchemist makes his or her own medicine; however, now companies provide medicine to all over the world. As the type of work change, new rules and systems were made to accommodate the type of work, environment and workforce. For example, in the past, most of the children work to help their families; however, they cannot get an education or enjoy their life

The importance and impact of work-life balance is very significant as it affects and benefits a person in many ways. Professor of Psychology at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, Shawn Burn, summarized it well when she said, “Work-life balance is important because it affects the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. After all, people need time and energy to participate in family life, democracy, and community activities. They also need time outside of work for rejuvenation, and to develop and nurture friendships and their ‘non-work selves.’” This is to say that work-life balance affects the wellbeing of individuals both at work, and allows for major developments for the non-working self as well. It is important that the two roles, an individual’s working and non-working self, enrich each other and do not take away from one another. Applying this concept in life will allow an individual

These types of workplaces have been directly linked to less work-family conflict (Kelly 267). By providing schedule control, employees have the ability to work closer to home and spend more hours a day with their families, decreasing the effects of negative work-family spillover. An example of this type of workplace would be the ROWE, results only work environment, initiative. At this workplace employees can do “whatever they want, whenever they want, as long as the work gets done” (Kelly 269). By setting this mentality in workers, they are far these prone to the work stress that triggers negative work-family spillover. According to the American Psychological Association psychologically healthier workplaces produce higher rates of employee satisfaction and 50% less employees reporting chronic work stress (“APA Center”). This then allows the workers a less likely chance of seeing any work-family spillover in their lives. As with every solution, creating psychologically healthy workplaces has its withdrawals and

it tough, now more than ever, to balance work with a family. The standard used to be

Many employers have enacted policies and strategies to encourage employees to balance their personal and professional responsibilities. According to Wang and Verma (2012), “The aim of these programs is to help organizations to attract and retain highly skilled workers by providing support to balance workers’ personal lives and their work” (p. 411). When making the decision to return to the workforce it is important to review and evaluate employment options especially while attempting to strike a balance between a workplace environment and home life.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss strategies for work-life balance. It focuses on outlining the importance of work-life balance by assessing short and long-term goals and deciding priority, timing and support needed. “The pursuit of a meaningful, multifaceted life involves endless choices about both short-term tactical issues and long-term strategic ones.” (Sinoway, 2012, p. 111). Life is too short to focus on a single area (e.g., work) and we cannot expect to have it all and to do it all with perfection, so it must be a way of life to prioritize, plan and achieve while pursuing a healthy balance between work and home/personal commitments.

Work and Life balance has become a consequential topic about a few decades ago up until today. Work-life balance was originally derived in the 1970’s to refer to the balance that exists in one’s professional life and personal one (Newman & Matthews, 1999). In the past decade or so, there has sparked a curiosity in the work-life balance realm. More and more studies and research came about on the topic and attracted the attention of scholars, the government, press, etc. This increase in curiosity could be driven by the worry that a lack of adequate work-life balance could spillover into health and even lower productivity for organizations. Today, we see that most people are working harder and longer than they ever were which makes it nearly unimaginable to attain that crucial work-life balance. Having a sustainable work-life balance means that there occurs adequate work functioning as well as the home with there being little to no role conflict (Sturges & Guest, 2004). Sturges and Guest (2004) also discuss that there are graduates that are pulled into situations where they have to work lengthy hours which inevitably leads to a poor balance in the work and life aspect. At the core foundation of this, work-life balance characteristics are contingent upon the various communication methods that occur in one’s organization. Having both formal and informal forms of communication, are crucial for both mentally and physically in order to be happy in the workplace. This paper focuses

Mothers are very passionate about their choice to work or stay at home with their children. This is a heated debate about what is best for children and who is the better mother. Just in the last generation more mothers are choosing to work, which is also sparking some conflict in families where grandparents felt it was important to stay at home with their children. This paper compares and contrasts both sides of working and being a stay at home mother. While there is no right or wrong answer to the work and family dilemma, it’s important to understand both sides.